Page 84 of Guarded

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Everything has been a mess.

I was repeating myself, but I couldn’t help it. All the emotions I’d kept locked down in front of Lyle were pouring out of me now.

Jeremiah

Are you okay? What’s happened?

Everything.That’s what I wanted to say. But there was no way I could distil it into a message.

Tomorrow. I could tell him everything tomorrow. For now, I just answered the first question.

Noah

No. Yes but no.

I didn’t mean to ghost you, I swear.

Didn’t make much sense, but that was my brain right now.

Jeremiah

Can I do anything? Want me to fly out to wherever you are?

Two things hit me at once. One being the fact that he hadn’t called me out for ghosting him. No, instead he was asking how to help.

What the fuck had I done to deserve Jeremiah?

The second was a visceral, almost choking fear. Jem couldn’t meet Lyle. I didn’t want him within a hundred miles of the fucker and his venom. What would be humiliatingfor Micah to hear would be a thousand times worse if it was Jeremiah.

I couldn’t stand it. For some reason, Jeremiah looked at me like I was something precious. Something worth loving.

I wasn’t letting Lyle taint that.

Noah

No!

Don’t do that.

I’m fine. I’m going to fly back in the morning.

I’ll see you tomorrow.

Jeremiah

Okay.

Let me know if you change your mind about the date.

I closed my eyes briefly, trying to stem the flow of tears. This uncertainty was what my silence had driven Jeremiah to. No longer could he count on my word. I’d already let Lyle come between us more than I’d ever meant to. No more.

Noah

I won’t. I’ve missed you.

I held my breath as I waited for his reply.

Jeremiah

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